Landscape of Lies - Peter Watson

[marny_h96]

It's been a couple of years since I've read this book but I liked it well enough to keep it. It is currently #688,443 on the Amazon.com sales rank which, I think, qualifies it as a little-known book. The book was written in 1989 and it's about a painting called 'Landscape of Lies':

After foiling a determined burglar's attempt to steal an apparently valueless 16th-century painting, Isobel Sadler enlists the aid of art dealer Michael Whiting. Soon convinced the picture reveals the location of long-lost sacred treasures worth millions, the two compete with the mysterious, increasingly ruthless burglar to solve the painted puzzle first. As Michael and Isobel cross London and the countryside, art history, budding romance, and deepening suspense merge in a credible journey related with sustained literariness, refinement, and polish. A wonderful, charming offering from the author of The Caravaggio Conspiracy (from Library Journal)

The book includes an insert of the painting and so the reader can try to solve the mystery with the two main characters. There are chase scenes, of course, but mostly the book is slow-paced. Isobel and Michael spent a lot of time in libraries and churches, trying to figure out what the clues in the painting mean.

I'd recommend it for readers who love art, the English countryside and history.

Comments

[marlenanke]

I have a long back-log of books I desperately want to read, which probably means it will take me a while to get to this one if I ever got my library to purchase it. However, it does sound quite interesting. I love me some slow-paced clues-following mystery. :)

[marny_h96]

I hear you on the huge back-log of tbr books. When you've read, though, I'd like to hear what you think of it.